Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders regress in loss to Oklahoma State

OSU’s Kalib Boone came from out of nowhere to score 16 points

Prior to Saturday, even the most passionate of Texas Tech basketball fans, those that watch as much Big 12 basketball as they can, would not have known who Kalib Boone was unless they grew up with him.  But after his 16-point game, the freshman from Tulsa certainly has the attention of Red Raider fans.

Entering the game with an average of just 3.7 points per game, the 6-foot-9 forward had a career-day in terms of scoring thanks to shooting 12-14 from the line.  In addition, he gave his team four rebounds, three blocks, and a steal in just 20 minutes of action.

This was just Boone’s third double-digit scoring game in Big 12 play.  He had ten points against Baylor on February 8th and 12 against Texas on January 15th.

Since the last time we saw Oklahoma State and Tech face-off, an 85-50 Red Raider win in the Big 12 opener on January 3rd, the Cowboys have shifted the way they run their offense.  No longer content to just let their outside shooters carry the load from behind the arc, head coach Mike Boynton is emphasizing his forwards in the paint and Boone was a beneficiary of that strategy on Saturday.

With Holyfield in foul trouble all afternoon, Tech was forced to go to a small lineup for most of the game and Boone was able to bull his way to the line.  In the previous 17 games, he had shot 14 free throws total and for the year, he had managed to get to the line only 19 times making his showing on Saturday all the more unlikely.

We went into this game believing that if OSU was going to have a shot, forward Yor Anei would have to have a big game similar to the ones he had put up in the last two OSU wins when he averaged 14.5 points but he did not score once on Saturday. Instead, it was a player who had been nothing but a spare part all season that came up huge to help carry his team to victory.